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I'm still very green with cell phones. I hardly ever use them. I have the nice small packages -literally I use them about 5 minutes a month. I'd have had Verizon now for a while -use to have Nextel, but have noticed for months now if not very recent, the sound quality is CRAP! I had a family death recently, long distance and I also had to travel to this place, so I put this phone/provider to the test. Made more calls this past week then I've ever had. Although there were bars, the quality is just horrible. My questions are: Is it the phone -I have a Voyager, touch screen, or the phone company? I'm able to change phones this month if I like and was wondering if I should just get something else, maybe get a clamp/flip phone? What are your guys' thoughts? I literally hear every 2nd word from my mother-in-law, which is bad, since she is so upset and I needed to hear every thing she had to say. I found myself agreeing with stuff and staying, ya - uh huh, and then going crap what did she just say? I've noticed this with many phone calls through out the months, not just my mother in laws, but to other people too. At first I thought it was their phone, but I'm convinced it's on my end. Major echo too. Nextel use to have that, that's why I got rid of them.
How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls Swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year, Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here.
I have Verizon service as well. Most of the issues I've noted are from my actual phone, though. People sound muffled when they aren't necessarily so....I get the echo once in a while on the long distance from the east coast, but a redial usually fixes that.
I have an old (first generation) LG Chocolate and I believe that's where my problems come from. Never really had any major issues with the service....aside from the occasional phantom voice mail (getting a voice mail message notification without a phone ring), which could also be the phone itself....
Anyway, that's what I can say about it.
Should I give up, or should I just keep chasing pavements....even if it leads nowhere - Adele
Okay - that's one vote - phone problem. I've heard things Chocolate, to stay away- Maybe it's the touchscreen phones in general are bad....
Hmmm ...
How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls Swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year, Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here.
Tracfone's supposed to be good service....also, aren't they the company who provides those free phones for elderly people?
Lupe, I'm inclined to agree with you on the touch-screen phones. Were it up to me (my phone was a gift) I would never purchase one....but I'm usually in the last wave of consumers to purchase anything new anyway, lol.
Should I give up, or should I just keep chasing pavements....even if it leads nowhere - Adele
Trac phone for sure if you're not a big talker. Wife and I both have one, plus the coverage is basically everywhere as they buy minutes from the major carriers- only phone I found that works both in GE and our property in the U.P.
You didn't say how long you've had your current phone but let me assure you: Today's cell phones are not made to last.
You might get lucky and actually keep one in decent condition for 18-24 months but more typically, things start breaking bad on them right out of the box.
All sorts of things go bad - the microphone, the receiver, even the screens.
My 21-year old daughter is really hard on her phones and basically, needs a new one almost every single month, I mean, year.
about 12 months. I just might go back and get one of those construction/industrial phones that are made of rubber.
How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls Swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year, Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here.
From my screen name you can probably tell that I'm constantly attached to my mobile phone. With Verizon, any issue that I have ever had has been resolved by dialing *228 to re-program the phone. It only takes a couple of minutes and fixes numerous issues. I don't know if this works with other providers since I have only ever had Verizon. Good luck!
In another thread, we waxed nostalgic about the old, black "Ma Bell" phones. About how they were built to last and even came in handy if you had to coldcock a burglar.
Nowadays? I'm afraid that even a "construction/industrial phone" wouldn't really have legs either.
Hi Realtor - that *228, does that wipe stuff out completely, uuuugghh, or does the internal phone junk get cleaned up and lines up the stars in the skies, etc?
How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls Swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year, Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here.
I have never lost anything when I have reprogrammed. My understanding is that the reprogramming process realigns the phone to the current cell towers. The cell providers are updating how the cell towers interact with each other and this is how you update the phone to the changes that they have made. Good luck!
@lupechennel I work for US Cellular, perhaps you should give us a try. We have a 30 day guarantee where, if the service doesn't work for you, you can cancel and only pay for what you've used.
If you are going to stick with Verizon, try the *228. It updates the PRL on your phone (preferred roaming list) and basically makes it more efficient when searching for signal and cell towers. This can help with call quality and reception as well (we use the same *228 code for the same reasons).
Of course, it's also possible that it's the phone. For our customers, we have loaner phones that we lend out to let them try a different device and see if that solves their problem; I don't know, perhaps Verizon does something similar.
If you're looking for a new phone, we do have phones starting off for free on a two year contract. If you're looking for something to use only a few minutes a month, we have prepaid service available as well. The phones are more expensive on prepaid, but they start at $20 and go up from there.
Hope that helps, feel free to give us a call if you like!
My wife and I have had several cell phones over the years, and use them quite a lot. I've found that phones that have exposed speakers/keyboards (basically, non-flip phones) seem to break down a lot quicker. We upgraded to two of those Motorola Razor flip phones about 2 1/2 years ago. I still have mine and it works great. My wife's finally broke (after several accidental drops and lots of use) a couple of months ago. We're up for "upgrading" with our ATT plan. We looked at the new phones on the market. If you want a "phone", you're selectoin is crap. If you want a "data gadget", you have numerous selections. However, each and every one of them comes with an additional "data plan" cost. The I-phones cost an additional $30 a month. Others cost anywhere between $15-$20 a month extra. I asked if they sell "phones" anymore, and the pimple faced twerp pointed me towards the back of the store. A whopping selection of about 5 phones, all look and feel like phones made in the late 90's. They're bulky, they're cheap, they're junk.
End of the day: We bought my wife another new Motorola Razor from Ebay for about $50. Works great, just put the old id card from the old phone into the new one. Plus we didn't have to re-up on another 2 year contract (month to month now), which is good considering the cell phone providers are entering a pricing war now, giving us the option to pick the right time to lock in a 2 year contract when we're ready.
If you want a "phone", the tried and true Razor's are hard to beat. If you want a "gadget", I have no advice to give, other than they're really cool to play with. Ebay is a great spot to buy one!
Be careful on eBay. I have heard that stolen phones are being offered for sale. Just like any transaction on eBay, check the ratings that the seller has received and make sure to read the return policy. Be sure to also pay with PayPal for some added protection.
I use the cell very little and switched to a Net10 prepaid phone. I put about $20 on a month to keep it active, which gets me 200 minutes (other packages available). What's nice is, it is $20 a month. Nor $20 for the plan, plus twice that for taxes, access fees, etc that the others tack onto a monthly plan that you can't get out of for years without a penalty.
The service area is very good too. I have yet to find I am without service someplace.
Wow, thanks guys. I was going to wander into the Glen ellyn Verizon store and see what's on the market. I might downgrade. I did the *228 thingy this morning. It give you three options. I picked one. Maybe I'll go back and pick 2 which is the roaming option. It's just that I've had my number for a very long time.
How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls Swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year, Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here.
